SEASON OF
ً
Apparently the Licensing Act was beginning to take effect,
for tliis season the total number of London performances was
٠٠ : only
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professionals. Seven from the nobility hired Drury Lane for
til: ::،
to put on a single amateur performance of Othello. This and
th twelve-night competition over Romeo and Juliet between the patent
c. proved to be th
noteworthy events of the season. Live singers
th ; by some from the tlieatres, managed to give two pastoral operas and
A : musical evenings at the Haymarket and at the King’s Opera House.
tl٠٠;;nce٢L a musical pasticcio, six performances of La Forza ٠’ Atnore, and
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of Nerina took tlie place of opera.
th .
witla a company of some fifty-one actors and actresses, twenty-
Mf] e
؛
and eight singers put on two new mainpieces— Edwartl
٠r٥ s Gil Bias (5 February), and the Thomson-Mallet Alfred (23 February)
١٥
three new afterpieces— Hood
fl]
December) by Moses Mendez,
47
:.odward’s pantomime glueen Mab26
December), and
farce.
On ;It: the Town16
.March). Despite the policy statement in ltis Prologue
T ;e opening of the theatre— "Sacred to Sliakespeare was this spot design'd/
offeree the lieart and humanize tlie mind”— Garrick entered upon a decade
with Rich in the field of dance and pantomime, as well as in
entrnT.earcan performances. He stepped up tlie number and quality of liis
dances, enlarged his company of dancers, and encouraged the
Was ::,limes to flow from the pen of Henry Woodward. Garrick liimself
activ
thi
season, speaking. fifteen prologues, acting in
tire
pieces, and performing major roles ninety-seven times. His principal